Bound for Better Days
by Shinneth
Summary: Genis goes on a personal journey to give a special someone a second chance. What he'll learn along the way may change his perception on life... particularly his own. [ 2 years postgame, many onesided pairings ]


**Notes: **

**I probably said back in BTTP that it would be my first and last fiction regarding ToS (in fact, I'm like 99 percent sure I said that), but I learned once again that you should never say never. Of course, I didn't expect BTTP to get such a huge amount of feedback, and for that, I have to give props to all of you who reviewed it or otherwise made sure to tell me what you thought of it. I've never before gotten so much love for a one-shot fic before! **

**Outside of that, over the summer, another ToS muse entered my mind, and it was another one not much touched upon by the fanbase, so I decided to give it a shot. A one-shot, indeed. When it took me over two weeks just to organize my notes for this story, I had a feeling it was going to be a doozy in terms of length. I considered breaking it into chapters, but I felt it would kind of ruin the story's, uh, very slow flow. After all, it's a one shot because it all takes place in the same day, and also the same time of day, in generally the same place. I'm not good with breaking my own flow unless I set out to make it a multiparter in the very beginning. So I apologize to those who have a phobia of one-shots that break the five-digit barrier in word count. **

**I do have a few things to clarify for this story to make it easier understood, however, so please pay attention!**

**!1! It takes place 2 years after the game. Needless to say, SPOILERS. Also, I decided to go the route of linking this story to what will eventually become Tales of Phantasia, a Tales game with very distant links to Symphonia (about 4,000 to 10,000 years between the games, Symphonia coming before Phantasia). Hence, the planet that is Tethe'alla and Sylvarant merged is named Aselia. NOT Symphonia, and I sure as hell won't call the group that saved the worlds Symphonians, either. I find it way too corny (it's like how you don't mention the words 'Final Fantasy' in the Final Fantasy games!). **

**!2! This fic talks of the game storyline as if it went the Sheena route for the ending. Meaning Sheena in Flanoir, Sheena in Heimdall, Sheena gets kidnapped, etc. There's a reason for that, as you further read, and while that strongly suggests Lloyd/Sheena, know that there are only three characters present in this story, and Lloyd and Sheena aren't among the three that will even have a speaking role in the story. So if you're anti-Lloyd/Sheena in any sense, I suggest you read anyway, because it's only an implication that, for this story, is a very minor detail. It just had to be Lloyd/Somebody, preferably not Lloyd/Colette, as it doesn't fit with the tension nearly as well. You'll see when you read on. **

**!3! This fic IS connected to BTTP. BTTP, as you know, occurs within the game as it goes on. So BTTP will be referred to in the past tense. It's suggested, but not necessary that you read BTTP before reading this. If you're a total Mithos/Genis-phile, I suggest you read BTTP anyway, but know it won't really be present in this fic, because it is post-game, and we all know what happens to Mithos at the end of the game. Sucks, I know. All in all, like Lloyd/Sheena, it's still just a minor detail to help the real plot flow along, so it's nothing serious. I just want to avoid reviews asking WTF I'm talking about when I get to a certain bundle of paragraphs… with that said, there are no real pairings in this fic at all. Outside of implications, that's about it. Implied pairings outside of Lloyd/Sheena are, you will find, very one-sided anyway. It makes the plot even more fun… but I guess if you wanna be nitpicky, there's prominent love-loving of Virginia/Kloitze. You know, past-tense-like. **

**I also apologize for a few grammatical quirks that I can only blame FFN itself for. Its system seems to have trouble with complex concepts like joining a question and exclamation mark together and brackets and such. Same thing happened when I formatted BTTP, too. Dorks.**

**I've taken quite a few creative liberties with the canon storylines otherwise, and I sincerely hope you enjoy them. Like I hope you'll enjoy this fic. (I really don't want it to be a disappointment after my last one…!)**

It was noon: the peak of daylight. The residents of Asgard could have not asked for a better day this year; it was dry with a comfortably warm temperature, and the sun beamed flawlessly in a sapphire-toned sky with not so much as a speck of a cloud in its company. Every day had each person going about their business as usual, everyone having their ups and downs about life, but no one could argue that the atmosphere of society has become more calm and peaceful now than it has since anyone could remember.

Asgard, the city of ruins, no longer resided in a world called Sylvarant. No one has used the name in over two years, since an Iselian resident named Lloyd Irving and a group of friends revived the Holy Kharlan Tree and joined the sister worlds of Sylvarant and Tethe'alla. Citizens of both worlds could now live together in harmony without relying on a Chosen sacrifice to ensure a lively and prosperous world. This combined world was now commonly referred to as Aselia. The tree that provided the planet's everlasting mana supply was given the name of Yggdrasill, chosen by Lloyd himself. Some thought of it as ironic that the one thing keeping the world alive was named after the madman who made their worlds abysmal and competitive to begin with. Those who knew better respected Lloyd's choice, in honor of a very lonely half-elf who spent four thousand years in misery, only to lose his mind to the point where his best chance at being set free from his own insanity was to have his life put to an end.

For the 14-year old Genis Sage, he suffered from the loss of Mithos Yggdrasill as much anyone would expect; being such good friends, and to this date was still Genis' only friend who shared similar half-elven bloodlines. In the end, considering the circumstances, Genis was able to move on from his friend's death, accepting the fact that he was, perhaps, too little and too late for making enough of an impact on Mithos' life to save it. But, Mithos was a large part of Genis' reason for being in Asgard on this day. For the last two years, Genis and his sister, Raine, have traveled across Aselia, visiting every town and city and village they come across, spreading the word…

Times were changing, and half-elf discrimination would soon be a thing of the past. The Sage siblings decided to do their part in improving their new world by once and for all ending the grudges certain races had against each other. At this point, the group as a whole only consisted of Raine and Genis, but they had a lot of credibility working in their favor since they were directly involved with saving the world and making it how it was now. Unfortunately, Genis was still considered a child by the majority of the world's population, and therefore most of the speaking and propaganda had to be carried by his much older sister, who everyone was able to listen to without a doubt.

As they traveled, however, Raine was considering enlisting some outside assistance in this mission, believing the changes will occur much more quickly with some agents residing in areas across Aselia. Upon reaching Asgard, one goal Raine hoped to achieve was to contact Harley, the half-elf the original group met with Linar and Aisha when they first visited the area. She also planned to reunite with Kate, half-elven daughter of Meltokio's former Pope, sometime in the near future.

Genis sighed as he strolled along the unpaved path that weaved through the village. Of course, he felt better knowing that he wouldn't have to pass himself off as a full elf here, as Asgard had been, for the most part, recently converted to accept half-elfs. Raine may have had an extra bit of influence here, being somewhat of a town hero and a favorite of many male residents when she performed the dancing ritual in her Maiden outfit. Raine's love for archaeology may have also been a key factor in why she'd want this town 'purified' of discrimination so quickly; from that perspective, Genis almost wondered why they didn't come to this place sooner.

'_She said she'd just be gone for a few hours this morning,'_ Genis thought, weary from nothing but utter boredom. _'Should've figured she'd get sidetracked by something. I just **can't** imagine what…'_ With a drop of sarcasm in his last mental statement, his annoyance began to build. He may have shared his sister's love to learn, but archaeology didn't spark his interest nearly as much… in fact, he had so much of it shoved in his face from an early age, that he was frankly sick of it at this point.

It was times like these that Genis wished he was better off staying behind in Iselia. Though even if he had remained at home, his only company would be Colette. After the Journey of Salvation, Colette Brunel was the only one of the group who wasn't busy traveling the new world or being part of a large scale plan to secure its newfound peace. No longer looked to as the Chosen, Colette was finally able to enjoy some time just being an ordinary girl. As it turned out, that's all she really wanted in the first place. At first, she felt a little guilty for not doing anything, but everyone wanted her to be happy, and assured that they would live out their lives in their own way. If her help would ever be needed, she would certainly be there to heed the call.

The last time Genis ever heard of Kratos and Yuan, they were on Derris-Kharlan. This was just two years ago, shortly after the formation of Aselia. He assumes they're still in that precise location at the present time.

Zelos has been going back and forth between Meltokio and Mizuho, taking care of business and political matters with the former Tethe'allan King and covering for duties in Sheena's absence. He, like Colette, is enjoying his lack of a Chosen title and being an ordinary man (or as ordinary as a rich ladies' man _can_ be). Genis and Raine hear news from him often, as Zelos likes to think of himself as one who keeps things running in the new world… though there's no telling how much of an exaggeration that might be.

While Sheena was originally supposed to fulfill her duties as becoming the next Chief of Mizuho after defeating Mithos, she decided early on to put her destiny on hold, even before joining the two worlds. She decided that it was more important to accompany Lloyd on a new journey of his; searching every corner, under every rock and nook and cranny of Aselia for remaining Exspheres, and to destroy every last one. Since the pair embarked on the journey, Genis hadn't seen nor heard of them. He was confident, however, that Lloyd and Sheena were doing just fine. Genis and Raine promised that they too would destroy their own Exspheres as soon as their journey was over. After all, what they were doing wasn't particularly the safest thing in the world, and their Exspheres served as a fitting safety net if anything wrong were to occur.

Finally, Regal returned to Altamira to resume his duties as the Lezareno Company's president. Presea decided to become his assistant and found a home in Altamira as well. She resigned to her fate of having to naturally age into her body, but in the meantime, stayed with Regal until the time came that she actually looked old enough to be living on her own.

It often depressed Genis when he thought of how everyone basically went their separate ways after the final battle. He had gotten so used to sticking by the large group; it was the first time he and Raine could do so and actually feel safe. Now… this felt more like the time before they arrived at Iselia. Just the two of them… wandering from town to town across the world, but none of those places were home. And in times like this, it was just Genis; all by himself… it was so easy to get lonely.

Genis broke out of his line of thought when he noticed that the general area around him suddenly darkened. It wasn't a subtle darkness like a cloud passing over, and even then, clouds were practically nonexistent today. Genis and those in his area who were passing by stopped what they were doing and looked up, and saw a floating piece of land drifting just above their heads, thousands of feet in the sky. It was going no faster than an ordinary, medium-altitude cloud, but it didn't take anyone very long to know what it was and continue about their daily business.

However, Genis remained gazing at what blocked his sunlight, but very well knew what it was, like everyone else. It was none other than the floating refuge for half-elves: Exire.

One thing Genis hadn't yet gotten used to in this new world was seeing things he normally saw in Tethe'alla in areas that were once part of Sylvarant. Since the formation of Aselia, any town was capable of seeing Exire in orbit above them; it only depended on the time of day and month (and sometimes various weather conditions). Exire itself hadn't changed in two years. While Raine and Genis' journey remains incomplete, most citizens of Exire are unaware of their intentions, and for the most part, are unaware of what goes on in the new world, as they have been since before the reformation. It was intended by Raine to have Exire be their last destination in their journey; when the half-elf discrimination disappears, they would arrive to the floating refuge, tell their fellow kin the news, and bring them down to the real world, which they have deserved for so long.

Naturally, Genis was looking forward to this moment, even if it was a long way in coming. But out of nowhere, Genis was suddenly wondering how Virginia fared.

He sighed. "Probably… making her dolls some lunch or something," he said to no one in particular. "That must be a terrible waste of food, though… no wonder the half-elves up there are kind of exasperated with her…"

Lloyd and the others were impressed with how Genis handled the situation, when he met his mother for the first time. When Raine was screaming and throwing a fit (but justifiably so), Genis was quiet and didn't raise a fuss at all. In fact, he barely said anything… the truth was that Genis was quite at a loss for words back then. All he could do was just stand there and absorb it… and listen to Raine trying to get through to Virginia, but it was apparent that nothing would. That crude doll was taking her place… Genis would've been angry over that as well.

Possibly. Genis wasn't certain, however. Even after the fact, he still considered Raine more of a mother than he would ever see Virginia as. Quirky as it seemed, because she was also still his sister… it was the best Genis could hope for. He couldn't help but feel pity for Raine, however, who was old enough to remember her parents to this day… it was understandable why she would be hurt. She retained memories of the ones who loved her.

But Genis had no such thing. He wasn't even sure if _Virginia_ had any real memories of him; he was only a newborn when he and Raine were separated from their parents for good. It didn't usually bother him like this… in a way, it wasn't really _bothering_ him as much as Genis was just… curious about the ones who gave him life. The family he had but never knew.

He would ask questions, figuring Raine had all the answers… but his sister, despite knowing her parents for eleven years, only offered him limited information. After meeting Virginia the first time, Raine was given her diary. Since she began reading it, Genis noticed that she was much calmer and not so sensitive about this subject whenever he inquired. But one thing that struck Genis as incredibly _odd_ was that Raine had never let him see a single page of Virginia's diary. Not so much as a full sentence.

It was even more frustrating when Raine refused to divulge into the whys of her refusal to let Genis read the diary. He made plenty of attempts to read it while she wasn't around to stop him, but apparently she planned ahead for that. Genis never could find the diary when Raine was absent. Either she was very good at hiding it, or she kept that book within the confines of her clothes somewhere and would absolutely not let go of it. When Genis noticed that Raine was about to finish reading the diary, he stopped seeing it at all.

Genis assumed she had read every last page at least a few months ago, as he hadn't seen her out with it since. It was unclear to him if she continued to hide it from his eyes, or if Raine just discarded it all together after she read it through, just to ensure that Genis' eyes would never lie upon its words. He persisted with the questions, but Raine would only assure her little brother that it was better for him to remain in blissful ignorance and not dwell on a past he had no control of. She advised Genis to keep his eyes set on the future; the future the both of them were striving to create, for every discriminated race. Apparently, the past would only slow him down and try to discourage him.

That was when Genis realized that he would likely never get an honest response out of Raine regarding this matter. _Something_ must have happened if she was so defensive about the past that she would refuse to taint her brother's ears with its story. What Raine failed to realize was that her insistence on keeping Genis in the dark only aroused his curiosity further. And at this point, Genis could consider himself aggressively inquisiturient about who his parents were. Like many things, Raine's attempts to discipline her brother simply backfired. Her relentless refusal to talk to Genis about their mother and father transformed his lukewarm interest into a flared and desperate desire to learn.

Genis considered his options for today carefully. There was simply no way of knowing for sure when Raine would come back from one of her escapades. If she didn't come back by the time she specified, it likely meant she became distracted and would remain out much longer than she intended to. She'd always apologize to Genis, for on countless times she would leave and not come back until the dinner her brother slaved over a hot stove for was cold. But, it was always an inconvenience for him in some way… and he knew that today would be no different.

He was close to the inn that he and Raine resided in at this point. There sat a pair of vacant Rheiards, up against the side of the building, hidden enough to go mostly unnoticed from the public eye. Always supplied with fuel, and with mana to spare across the world, Volt's power was no longer required to run the devices. It certainly came in handy for Genis and Raine's worldwide journey, and the entire movement may have been impossible if not for their convenience.

Exire was still directly above Asgard with its shadow consuming more and more of the village of ruins as it continued on its orbital path. And Genis… didn't particularly have any chores to take care of, or anything else to do for the entire day.

The mental debate was short-lived and rushed, at best. Childish impulse won the battle, and it was only a matter of seconds before the teenage half-elf hopped onto his Rheiard and ascended to the heavens above.

'_This isn't all about some stupid curiosity,'_ Genis mentally assured, bracing himself as he reached the harsh, higher altitudes. _'This is… this is about second chances. I may not know a lot about my parents, but I think I know enough. I know I was abandoned, just like Raine…'_

Thinking back on the hard times brought back some particularly painful memories.

'_I know it was for the best, because mom didn't want us to live like the other Tethe'allan half-elves, who rarely get to see the day of light. I know mom went crazy, and dad is dead…the way things were handled wasn't perfect, but there probably weren't a lot of choices at the time.'_ Genis narrowed his eyes, remembering how much he wanted to say something back when he first met his mother, but just couldn't summon the right words. Not after watching his sister's heart break into pieces…

He knew he needed this second chance; to at least try to make things right for everyone. For the trouble he stirred up during the Journey of Salvation, for being the cause of the abrupt end of Raine's childhood… _'I need to do this. Not for myself, but for everyone. For my sister… and my mom.'_

His Rheiard made its descent on the appropriate landing area in Exire, though it was only one of many across the floating island. He made sure to pick the spot closest to Virginia's house. After disembarking, Genis briefly looked over the edge, but didn't see a spot of land below him that looked like Asgard. But it then made sense; the entirety of the hovering refuge was above the village, covering it up completely. The young half-elf only hoped that Exire wouldn't have made too much distance between now and the time he left. It would only mean a longer ride back, and while Rheiards were an efficient method of travel, its fuel was not as efficient in the realm of cost-effectiveness.

The climate of Exire hadn't changed in two years. High altitudes meant strong wind currents, meaning near-constant windy conditions and a chilly temperature. Genis just sighed as he tried to shake off the shivering, making sure to wave at the passing half-elven refugees as he approached his mother's residence.

"Wait a second!"

Genis froze in mid-step, turning his head in the direction the shout came from. Sure enough, there was an old woman standing by a tree just a mere few yards behind Genis. The front door to Virginia's home was about the same length away in the other direction.

The elder's wrinkles crunched together in an indignant fashion. Her beady black eyes fixated on the targeted youth. "You'd better not be heading where I think you are."

"What?" Genis asked out loud, gesturing to Virginia's house. "You mean there? I know about it."

"Good," the elder huffed in a sort of feigned relief. "I wouldn't wish for any half-elf to deal with that crude woman. Thank goodness, though, it seems everyone else is getting fed up with her nonsense." She began to smile. "Before long, we'll have her thrown out, and we can finally live in our misery in _peace_."

Genis Sage could age as much as he wanted, but would still retain his sharp wit and short temper. Even fellow half-elves had to endure his personality. "You should watch your mouth, old lady. Someone might get _offended_ one day, with that venomous drivel you call a warning."

"I've never seen _you_ around here before," the woman countered. "And if you truly knew of this… _harpy_ amongst our community, you'd know you're talking in defense of an elf. An elf, you ignorant little fool!"

"I know she's an elf," Genis explained, now making more of an effort to hold back his natural urges to argue. "She's… my mother. So you're wasting your time if you think insulting me will do you any good."

"Ingrate," the pruned half-elf hissed. "Do you honestly think being related to her will matter? She's a full-blown lunatic, that's what she is. You're wasting your time by thinking you'll change anything."

Genis just didn't have time for this. But it was only more proof that deep down, all races were the same. There was good and bad of everything and everyone.

He turned away from her and to the much more inviting door. "I'll **make** it matter. I'll force a change… but that won't happen unless I get away from you. So mind your own business!" With that, he ran towards the house, didn't look back, and didn't bother listening to whatever curse the woman screamed out to him as a response.

With not even a small amount of consideration, Genis swung open the front door, made his way inside, and slammed the door behind him. The teen's muted blue eyes squinted shut as he took a moment to catch his breath; even running for short distances wore his body down. Just the typical price an accomplished black mage had to pay; even in times of peace, Genis found ample room in his schedule to sharpen up his spell casting. It felt, however, that his physical reflexes gradually worsened as his magical talents grew. Still, his naturally-keen senses for feeling, detecting, and manipulating mana, which had long since surpassed his sister's, had evolved greatly within two years, leaving him even more sensitive to Aselia's natural mana flow.

This was why his eyes opened with great shock when a large jolt of a mana presence hit him like a sack of bricks, the second he was able to recover from his physical exertion.

The mana signature belonged to none other than his fully-elven mother, Virginia Sage.

"Oh… a visitor…"

Genis' back remained glued to the front door as he tried to think up of a decent explanation for his sudden and _very_ rude intrusion. "Uh… sorry about that…"

"Please, really, I never get visitors anymore!" Virginia exclaimed, her face ever-beaming. In fact, she seemed downright radiant. "Welcome to my home! Please relax! I'll make tea… oh, I just love having visitors!"

Genis met his mother's smile with an utterly blank expression. He managed to stand upright, but was baffled that she was so quick to take him in, even when he practically barged into her house with no prior warnings. Virginia only gestured for him to have a seat at the table, which Genis quickly did, stumbling all the way. As he sat, Virginia went straight to preparing the tea.

"Um… thanks for having me…?" Genis accepted, still fighting off the confusion in his head.

"I should thank you for coming," Virginia chirped, filling the tiny house with the aroma of a particular herbal tea. "I haven't gotten to treat a guest in almost two years! And since my children left, I've been so lonely!"

'_The children!'_ Genis' mind snapped at the word. He immediately knew what she was talking about… and after sharply looking at every corner of the house that was visible to him, he didn't see a single trace of the crude doll Virginia once passed off as his sister. There wasn't a single toy in the house, and certainly no other dolls… it seemed peculiar, indeed.

"So, where did you come from?" Virginia asked, innocent as could be. She glowed with such warmth and chastity, and being ever-so cautious with the tea as she poured it into a dainty cup for her guest.

The half-elven teen gazed down at his cup to see his reflection, and gulped. He didn't think he should be surprised that his mother didn't recognize him from last time, but upon further inspection, Genis realized that he must have changed a bit since those two years. Indeed, puberty was already upon him. His height was finally catching up to his sister's (and no doubt would soon pass her within a couple of years); his body was filling out and developing into something suitable for a young man. Even Genis' facial features have significantly changed to an extent, and of course, he had a much lower voice.

Then again, Genis recalled not exactly throwing himself into the open where Virginia might have noticed him during the first encounter. Still, after recalling the hysteria that ensued after Raine tried to convince her mother who she really was, it was apparent that going by the name Genis Sage in front of Virginia wouldn't get him very far in what he flew out to Exire to do. His only chance was to make a new identity for himself… awkward as that would be.

"Dear? Did you not hear me?"

Genis' full attention was on Virginia in an instant. He stared at her, with his eyes watering up instinctively as a reaction to his nervousness. It was controlled, as he took brief sips of his tea. "S-sorry… I'm from around here… you know. I… _am_ a half-elf…"

"Strange," she remarked. "I don't think I've ever seen you before… and I've lived here all my life. Of course, I don't get out as much as I'd like to these days… being a mother is so time-consuming…"

"I'm new!" Genis put in, a bit suddenly. "I'm… I'm a new citizen… refugee… whatever. I just came from—"

Virginia just shook her head. "And you're a half-elf. I… shouldn't say anything, really. My children were half-elves… but it's not wise for you to be here, young man. Heimdall is unforgiving to those who aren't full-blooded."

"… excuse me?" Genis paused whatever line of thought went through his head for the moment. He didn't seem to be quite on the same page as his mother… "This isn't…"

"I've lived here all my life," Virginia insisted, but not at all in a harsh manner. Though she spoke as if it were the undeniable truth. "I know Heimdall despises your kind… I was once the same, until I met my husband…"

'_She… she really thinks this place is Heimdall…'_ Genis shivered a bit, wondering how it was possible for anyone to make such a mistake, even if one was mentally impaired. The two areas couldn't possibly be more opposite of each other. Still, he wasn't sure if this was the time to be enlightening her of the truth yet. Getting answers out of the life-weary Virginia would involve playing her little game for some period of time, and only then would Genis start taking some risks in his answers and reactions.

"He was a human?" he asked, putting on as much of an innocent act as someone his age could. In all honesty, Genis was every bit interested in learning anything about his late father, someone he never has and never would get to know. All he gathered two years ago was that he was a military man from Meltokio. "How could he get into Heimdall, then?"

Virginia let out a light chuckle, by this point taking a seat across from Genis, enjoying her own cup of tea. "The same way you got in, I suppose… I never asked him. I didn't really care at the time, dear… I was instantly in love with the man. The feeling still holds true today. Despite the idea of an elf and a human sharing love with one another being a taboo of society, things like that are very insignificant when you're experiencing such an emotion." She smiled. "Keep that in mind when you're looking for love, young man. You look like you could use someone right now."

Genis, flustered, just grinned and shook his head. The last thing he wanted stuck on his mind was his abysmal love life. "I'm in no hurry. Still, isn't it kind of lonely to be without him and any children? Perhaps you could use some companionship again…"

"Oh, oh, Kloitze is just out doing some work… you see, not every resident of Heimdall is kosher with a human staying in their territory, no matter how much love is involved. So we've been very much living in secret… he comes back at night! That's why I like sleeping in during the day, yes. To spend all night with him…" Virginia looked up as she let out a heavy, but satisfied sigh. "Poor dear gets sick so often, though, I'm afraid I'll lose him. It's been a rather peculiar cycle…"

The younger Sage felt his mind cramp. Kloitze was _alive_, now? Doubtful. He couldn't take everything Virginia said to heart, after all. It was fortunate that he had a reliable source two years back to explain how his parents really got to Exire, what their true intentions were, and how they felt about everything before Kloitze passed on and Virginia went insane. And still… despite Virginia's twisting around of the story, creating mounds of confusion, Genis had to consent to this little game for a while, yet. He just had to keep up with her, making sure to keep track of what the truth was and what was Virginia's truth.

"He's not dying, is he?" Genis questioned, slightly uneasy. He hoped this wasn't going too fast for her…

"It's strange," Virginia murmured. "We've had very bad luck in trying to make a family, because whenever my daughter turns eleven years old, I keep losing her… that's when Kloitze gets sick. We try to move on… but it's been a repetitive process…"

'_What?'_ This was beginning to get ridiculous; the way Virginia's logic worked. "So you're saying…" Genis made sure to be very careful with his words. "You're saying… that you always lose your children when they turn eleven, and then Kloitze gets sick… and then he gets better and you keep trying again?"

"Basically, yes."

Genis took a deep breath. "How do you lose your children?"

"It seems the people of Heimdall always find me out when my daughter turns eleven, specifically… they try to chase us all out, and in the end, I have to save my children by sending them to Sylvarant," Virginia explained, gesturing towards her window. "Do you see that ledge out there? They call that the Otherworldly Gate."

So he looked. All he saw was a simple cliff with nothing special about it. It looked nothing like the Otherworldly Gate, and the only thing on the other side of that cliff would be an insanely long and deadly drop down to Aselia.

'_Nothing… makes sense anymore,'_ Genis concluded in his mind.

"More tea, dear?" Virginia bent over towards him, kettle full and ready for a refill.

The son looked to his ignorant mother with a feeling of dread. Of course, she lost her mind… naturally, she had been through a lot… but now he was seeing for himself, why this woman was nothing short of aggravating, and why the residents of Exire would want to stay away from her. He figured by now she was also imagining anything like an angry mob of elves to chase her off in _Exire_ and force her to drop her dolls off the 'ledge'.

Perhaps this was more trouble than it was worth?

"I… don't know," Genis muttered, with his eyes set on the floor. "I think I've overstayed my welcome a bit… making you talk about your personal life…"

Virginia's first reaction was a bubbly giggle. "Nonsense! I never get to talk to anyone but my husband these days! Heimdall hates me, but I still love it, you see… that's why I can't get myself to leave yet. I've tried to for the good of my child, but I'd never want to take the beauty of this place away from her. I take these risks… but Raine always loved Heimdall. I'd love for her to grow up where I grew up." She filled Genis' cup to the brim and sat down.

Genis took his tea and nodded slowly before taking a drink. "If you… insist, I guess."

"And what of you?" she asked, which made Genis twitch when he was put on the spot. "What's your story? What brings you here?"

There was a long pause before the elven mother got her reply. "Your… reputation precedes you," Genis said with a slight laugh. Virginia's eyebrows rose, which caused Genis to shake with utter fear of saying something wrong. "I mean…! I know now it's not true! You're… you're a good person! I was just curious…!"

"How sweet of you," Virginia replied. "And polite… just like my little Raine."

Genis felt a lump in his throat. "I'm… like Raine?"

"It's strange," Virginia thought out loud, examining her guest closely. "Many things about you remind me of her… you even look a bit like her. It's such a coincidence, isn't it? No one could be as special as my Raine…"

He didn't know why, but hearing the last sentence hurt… just a little bit. Nobody could really be at fault for it. It was just a dull pain that Genis would have to deal with, for it had no particular resolve. "You really loved her, didn't you?" His eyes were solely on the cluttered mess of a table.

"She was so smart," Virginia reminisced; her eyes seemed to glitter with pride. "An intuitive little girl… I never thought of myself as a prodigy, and Kloitze was more renowned for his military skills… little Raine seemed to be born with a never-ending thirst for knowledge." When she noticed Genis was shying away from eye contact, her face brightened up. "I know, I'll draw her! Then you'll understand."

"I'll understand?" Genis looked up, but still not directly to his mother.

"Why she's like you!" the joyous mother exclaimed, reaching for some scrap paper that was conveniently on the table. She picked a random crayon — crimson red — from a pile spilling from the table and to the floor. Immediately, she was set to doodle, and her free arm slithered up the table to block Genis from viewing her progress.

Was this worth it? Genis kept asking himself the same question, and kept giving himself the same answer. _'I don't know…'_ It was difficult to discern up from down and left from right in Virginia's universe. How fortunate it was that he got the full, _true_ back-story two years ago… he would have been outright bewildered without it today! Even then, knowing full well what the details were on Virginia and Kloitze's expulsion from Heimdall, the Otherworldly Gate, and Virginia's residence in Exire, Genis felt like he was no better off now than he was before he arrived.

He simply didn't know if anything else Virginia was saying was solid enough to consider anything close to the **truth** (whatever that may be).

Then again… _why_ would she lie? Genis at least knew these weren't deliberate lies. It was definite that Virginia personally took to heart every ounce of nonsensical psycho-babble that came out of her mouth. The reason her truth differed from reality was because the events in truth ruined her mind; they were bad memories. Times that few could keep on living with without anyone to comfort them, when they are thought of. Had she not made her own world, there was a good chance that she too would have passed on by now.

But now they were past the hard times. Certainly, Genis would find out something more positive when Virginia got the chance to rave about her only daughter. Then, there would be no need for his mother to make anything up.

"Done!" Genis' eyes widened and focused on the aspiring artist across from him. Said artist gleefully shoved her masterpiece in his face; a rather crude sketch, at best, of her Raine Sage. It was difficult to make out any real details, but Genis could tell that this was a much younger Raine depicted; she looked to be no older than nine or ten. Her hair was drawn the same as it was styled in the present day.

"See? See?" Virginia poked her head over, pointing out various areas of her so-called skill. "Her hair is almost the same shade of silver, and it's so very hard to control… that's why I kept it cut short, you know. But I still made sure to hide her ears! You see, half-elf ears are unique. I think it's some kind of tradition for them to hide their ears so that they can't be pointed out as easily. Your ears are hidden too, I see." She grinned, giving her a rather childish air. Genis gave her a stiff nod in return. Why was _he _being told this? A half-elf like himself would know the distinction between his own ears already. It just seemed a tad ironic.

"You're right… she does look like me…"

"Oh, but look," Virginia urged Genis, pulling him even closer to the picture. "Do you see her intelligent-looking face? I swear, you've got a very similar face… but no one can outshine my wonderful Raine."

Genis closed his eyes, deep in thought. "You cared for Raine, I guess. That's rare, considering how elf and half-elf relations usually go."

"Taboo or not, she's my child," Virginia stated, sounding more mature than she ever had before. "She was a half-elf, but I took a great pride in my Raine. Her blood didn't prevent her from shining like the greatest star in the sky… and when she was with us, it was complete. She and I, and my husband, Kloitze. Even if we spent our days in hiding, being careful where and when we went to places, watching what we said, constantly making sure Raine was behaving elflike enough so that she would not be discovered…" Pausing, she let out a peaceful sigh. "Regardless of the tension and the risks, every day was paradise for the three of us. We couldn't have asked for more."

With his sister solely in mind, Genis was able to smile. He was glad to know that Raine spent the better part of her childhood with parents who genuinely loved her. He could already imagine the then-sane Virginia's words as the hours went by on her diary, recording and logging the events of Raine's happier years. Happier years for everyone, really. Genis himself wasn't yet born in these good times, but could rest well knowing he would have had a good family, if they still existed.

It still didn't answer why Raine would never show these recorded times of bliss to him. Did she think he would be jealous that his name was not included, even if these were documented years before his time?

What mattered most of all was that Virginia Sage was still alive. The chance to have a family as reunited as possible was still alive. It was up to Genis, the neutral party, to attempt to build that bridge that never had its chance. Was Virginia a required element for Genis and Raine's life to continue? Absolutely not. Genis even knew it would be awkward to acknowledge the quirky woman as his mother at first. There was always a chance that it would never work out, and that things were best left alone as they had been set to be, those fourteen years ago.

But it was a world of changes. All victims of the world of old deserved a new chance at the fresh beginning underway, and by no means was Virginia excluded. Genis knew this well, and had a feeling that Raine would never surrender her pride or overcome her mental scars long enough to make such an attempt at a renewal. If she had known about his plans today, there was no doubt in Genis' mind that she would stop him as soon as he got the idea out in enough words.

He'd have to ask Raine about some things later, but what mattered right now was the one staring at him at the moment.

"You're pretty quiet, dear. Is everything alright?" Virginia was settled back in her seat by now. The scribble of Raine was put to a vacant side of the table.

"Sorry," Genis apologized, swiftly and softly. He was pretty sure what to say now. "I was just thinking about something… regarding the state of the world… I wasn't sure if you knew anything about it or not."

And there was blank confusion. "What about the world would I not know?"

"Well…" Genis eyed her, and couldn't help but give the faintest smile. "You know Tethe'alla isn't really called Tethe'alla anymore, right?"

Virginia drew in a breath as she let the words sink in, but Genis wasn't done yet. "And Sylvarant doesn't go by the name of Sylvarant, either. Wanna know why?"

Virginia just shrugged a little. "Why would the people decide to give them different names? Our worlds have had those names for several millennia now… it just seems a little sudden. Not to mention nonsensical…"

"It makes more sense than you think," said Genis. He looked to the floor momentarily, his voice lowering to a knowing mutter. "I guess you really _have_ been out of the loop…"

"What are you talking about?"

"I've got connections with people on the mainland," Genis explained, attempting to get a professional air to his tone. "I was informed by several residents there that the worlds have merged two years ago."

The cheerful woman who played with dolls, the scribble-artist, the tea-brewer, the elf… she remained silent to this statement. No doubt, she was affected. Her mouth hung open, though it was well controlled.

"It's fine, really! Everything's okay now. The worlds aren't competing for each other's mana anymore," Genis announced, with a little more confidence. It was almost unbelievable to himself that he was actually a part of this grand revolution, even now… "There isn't a system where one world flourishes while the other goes in decline. It's been rectified, you see, and now the Holy Kharlan Tree provides all the mana needed to sustain life everywhere."

"I… but…" Virginia stumbled with her words; full sentences seemed to break before forming in her mind. "There's no way…. it's all… like a myth… and…"

"Everything about the worlds is changing," Genis stated. "Everyone lives on the same existential plane, and the real surprise is the fact that two half-elves were in the group who made things this way. And they achieved this by working with humans."

Now, words wouldn't come to Virginia at all. She opened her mouth, but not a sound came from it.

While Virginia was silent, Genis figured it was best to finish the story up quickly. "So, that's why times are on the verge of changing, Virginia." He cracked a small, hopeful smile. "Because those two half-elves have opened the eyes of every race there is. Even the ones who hated us, and that's everyone anyway, right? There's a movement going on right now, I heard. The half-elves who helped save the world are going on a journey to make sure that half-elf discrimination becomes a thing of the past."

"The discrimination will end?" Virginia concluded, very well in disbelief. At least, it was belief initially. No doubt was there a sign that she really _wanted_ to think of it as a fact.

"Not just for half-elves, but also for every other race that's hated by another," Genis added. "Even for full-blooded elves like you, who are looked down upon by your own kind because you gave birth to half-elves. I even got the name of who's running this movement! It's a weird coincidence, actually, for me to run into you today to tell you this…"

"… What in the world do you mean?"

This was it… "The founder of the movement is a young woman named Raine Sage."

"My… Raine?"

"Maybe," Genis said, looking up with amusement. "Wouldn't it be something if she survived on her own after all these years and ended up not only saving the world, but putting an end to a nasty tradition that's lasted eons until now?"

"That sounds like her," Virginia said, vigorously nodding. "My daughter would grow into a lovely woman and do wonderful things… just like that. It's been… it's been…"

"Fourteen years," Genis ended, with a stiff nod.

The weary mother paused, as if an epiphany had just hit her. Genis kept quiet, holding back a quiver as he realized what he said would conflict with Virginia's state of mind. Unless somehow two years was _like_ fourteen to Virginia…

"If it was really her, she must be leading a successful life," Virginia figured, with an unusually negative consent. "Even more, she'd have done this all on her own… without anyone to help her…"

"I wouldn't say that," Genis cut in, shaking his head. "She had some friends along the way…" He paused, solemnly considering his own role. "… And a lot of moral support. I don't think anyone can fully support themselves and make great things like this happen."

"H-how do you know so much about this, young man…?"

Frowning, Genis cursed at himself in his mind. Of course, if he would keep babbling on about these world events, he would have to make some credibility for himself for claiming to be just another resident of Exire. After all, most Exire residents remained ignorant to the world below them, and with good reason. Little to no contact was held between the two places even to this day, as there was not really a way to establish a connection. Not a stable connection, at least.

"… I told you, I have connections with the world below us," he explained carefully. "The group that united the two worlds, they… they helped me during their journey. They saved me from the fate that normal half-elves usually face on Tethe'alla. When they told me what they were doing, I wanted to help out in any way I could." Genis took a deep breath, trying to absorb his lie. He wasn't even comfortable _lying_ about his origins. Could it even be considered fully lying, though? Genis knew his roots were from Tethe'alla, perhaps even in Heimdall.

Still yet, he would always know Iselia on Sylvarant as his home. Just as Iselia on Aselia is still his home today, although he hasn't been there for months.

"Now that I think about it, one of the half-elves looked just like the girl in the picture you drew. Same silver hair and everything," Genis added, and cracked a modest smile when he noticed Virginia's gleaming eyes. "I don't think it was a coincidence."

Virginia rubbed what seemed to be some moisture forming in her slate-toned eyes, seemingly unable to contain herself any longer. She let out a longing sigh… "What I would give to just see her again… if only one more time before I die…"

"It's not impossible," Genis informed, trying not to let his own emotions spill out overtly. Moved as he was to hear of Virginia's desires, he still had to pretend to be the innocent messenger, one who couldn't personally care _that_ much for this woman's happiness. "They're—" He cut himself off, and quickly changed the pronoun. "She's… probably wanting the same thing."

The adolescent Sage felt ill at his own correction.

All of this time, and all of this talking had passed…

It was all about Virginia, Kloitze, and Raine.

In all this, where did Genis Sage himself factor in, according to his mother?

But… now wasn't the time to be selfish, Genis decided; he had to remain focused on his goal. If he could convince Virginia to _leave_ Exire, perhaps…

"Do you really think she would? After I abandoned her?" Virginia's desire to know was clearly dictated by the heightening of her wavering voice. "Whether or not I had a choice doesn't change the fact that I had to leave her behind… I had to dump her for the greater good. But… there should be no greater good than one's own children, don't you think?"

"You did what was necessary," Genis said, his voice rather meek and quiet. He could never rest easily with being ditched under any circumstance, but at least it was for a good cause. Had he and Raine been kept, they very well could have ended up like Kate and the other Tethe'allan half-elves. Perhaps the unification of the two worlds would have never even happened… "If you could face Raine, and explain it to her, and make it clear that there was no other way at the time… she might be willing to take you back. Do you believe it's too late to make up for what you did?"

Virginia seemed to look at this as if it were a trick question. "I'm… not sure. Is it? Fourteen years is a long time…"

Genis could rest easy knowing that he was managing to break Virginia out of her mold; the continuous and eternal time loop that controlled her mind for all these years. At least it was progress.

"This is a different world now, Virginia," he said in a positive tone. "Think of it like a clean slate. There's nothing to fear… your daughter is changing the world and making it so that there's no one's wrath you have to worry about when you keep your family whole. Don't you think she would know all about that to want to change the way the world looks at differing races?"

"It's strange," Virginia remarked. "How you can make sense out of my life this way… you must be a very bright boy."

The compliment could only bring out flushed cheeks on the receiver, but he maintained his professional attitude to further sell his trust. "Y-yeah," he stammered, keeping himself together. "My point is that in this time, it's never too late. If you see a chance to get out of this place and find your daughter again, I would recommend that you take it." If only Genis could convince her that he knew where Raine was, it would be easy street from there on out.

After all, Genis well knew he and Raine were abandoned out of love and their parents' determination to not sacrifice their children to the traditional half-elf way of life. To succeed in this _and_ find her children alive after all these years would be the pinnacle of Virginia's (undoubtedly) long and miserable life.

But outside of a few hopeful expressions, some modest smiles and a warm sense of optimism in her voice, Genis noticed that Virginia, unfortunately, wasn't as ecstatic as he thought she should be of this prospect. The chance to see her children again… the chance to reunite her family, be given love instead of hatred and disregard, and end her lonely days at last… why wasn't she happier?

"Is everything okay?" Genis asked, when he felt Virginia had been silent for too long.

"I wish it were all so easy," she murmured. Her eyes were no longer bright and vibrant, her voice wasn't cheerful and upbeat, and her smile faded into a pudgy frown. She slouched instead of sitting upright, and her head was bowed towards the table.

Genis replied to this saddening expression with an almost impatient frown of his own. "It is! It _is_ easy. All you have to do is get out of here and make the effort to find her. I can even help you with getting out of this place if you'll trust me…"

"That's not it," Virginia insisted. "You're the only one who wants to talk to me… you're the first man since Kloitze to even say kind things to me," her voice shifted into an almost upset tone for reminiscing, and Genis once again found himself a little flattered at the sentiment. "You look like someone I can trust… after all, it doesn't feel as if you would have evil intentions. Not a pure, young man like yourself…"

"I appreciate it," Genis gently thanked, as he looked on at his frail and shattered mother. "But… did I say something to make you sad? I didn't mean to…"

"I haven't told you yet," she admitted. "To be completely honest, I have to say that… I'm a little apprehensive about seeing my little girl. And why that is so…"

'_Apprehension?_' Genis wasn't sure how to take this. Virginia had absolutely nothing but good things to say about Raine. It was wonderful that she was being honest, and more than likely telling the truth, but the youngest Sage couldn't help but feel his own apprehension at what she could mean.

But it didn't keep him from wanting to know. And it certainly didn't keep him from asking Virginia to explain herself.

Virginia stared at him for a lengthy moment, regarding him more seriously than she had during the conversation so far. A few seconds to breathe, clear her head, and even out, and she began to speak.

"There's something important I haven't told you," she began, looking up at Genis from her slouching position like a dog who knows it had done something bad. "Raine wasn't my only child. There was another…"

Genis felt a lump in his throat; one he had much trouble getting rid of. He was, naturally, taken by surprise. This was what he was waiting to hear…

"I decided, we decided… all three of us," Virginia shyly smiled, as she recited a familiar line: "If it was a girl, her name would be Jean. If it was a boy… Genis."

Even if the outcome was obvious…. "And?"

"… Raine wanted a sister," Virginia said, much more sadly. Her weak smile had already vanished. A new wave of depression was beginning to take over… this time, it managed to spread a little bit into Genis as well.

'_So, they wanted me to be a girl,'_ he thought. _'W-well, there's nothing that can be helped about that… I mean…it can't be that big of a deal.'_ Back to reality. "I guess you… wound up with a boy instead, right?"

"There's something I've never been open to Raine about," Virginia admitted, looking overcome with guilt. "Of course, I would have never tried to go into detail… she was only a child at the time. She wouldn't have been able to handle it. But the truth is…"

Genis swallowed the thin air of Exire in anticipation. "You can tell me, Virginia…"

"The truth is," Virginia bowed her head to mumble the rest of her sentence. Her son's sharp ears could still pick up on it… "We weren't prepared for a Genis Sage."

"… Prep—"

"He was an accident," Virginia said, a bit more boldly… a bit more resentfully. "For years, Kloitze and I knew we couldn't have a big family. Not the way our living conditions were. It was a nightmare trying to keep Raine under wraps in Heimdall all those years… we loved her, we _wanted_ her… but she made us realize that for the good of the family, we had to stop with one."

Genis was still in the process of letting the words sink in. All he could do was nod. Mindlessly.

"We were in love, so it felt right with Raine," Virginia explained. "It was something we wanted to happen… something we wanted to create. We couldn't have been happier with Raine… but then Kloitze started having longer mission patrols in Meltokio. He started having to stay away longer, and cut back his visits by hours and days at a time…" She sighed… and for the first time, the years were really beginning to show on her physique. Illuminating and radiant at the beginning of the visit, but her innocent naivety had completely worn off now. She seemed dull… and on the verge of lifelessness.

"It would even be a week or two little Raine would have to go without once seeing her father," she lamented, shaking her head at the memory. "I understood, he understood, she understood… it was our only means of income. The only way we could care for Raine and ourselves. We just barely got by, but it was easier financially when he wasn't there. I hated that so much… Raine hated it… we all hated it…"

Still shaken, Genis' eyes widened. Perspiration was beginning to build throughout his body as the tension ravaged it like wildfire. "And then…"

"One night, he came home," she continued. "Kloitze came home to me, late at night. Raine was already in bed, but… I-I just couldn't take it anymore!" She cried out, covering her face. No tears fell, and only shuddered a few times before managing to calm down. "I made love to him that night. He had to know that I wanted him _so much_… he wanted to tell me the same. There was no time anymore… no time at all. I had to capitalize," Virginia looked up, a little determined. "And it was a glorious night. It helped me get through the next few weeks with ease, and it was the same for us all. Soon, it seemed like Kloitze would finally be able to take lighter shifts and see us on a daily basis again… we could be like a real family, at last… but then…"

He wanted to block it out… Genis wanted _so_ badly to block this out of his mind, out of his hearing range, out of his **life**… but there was no way he could. Absolutely no way; he flew all the way up to this hut in the sky to listen to this woman talk about her life. To give her a second chance…

"I realized that particular night had left me pregnant," Virginia concluded, completely full of sorrow. "Not until a few weeks after the fact, but when it occurred, Raine was so… _delighted_. She… she really wanted a sister to play with and teach things. Raine was ten at the time, and she was already extremely intelligent. I was happy for her, but I had to find a way to tell her… that it was impossible to give her what she wanted."

Genis was going to give a second chance to his mother… he was going to try…

"Every night, I was in pain," she bemoaned, shaking her head in disbelief that she ever survived to this point. "I tried my best to hide it from Kloitze, because I wanted him to visit often, always… b-but, eventually… he noticed. I had to tell him the truth. And considering a second child would mean another mouth to feed, clothe, and make room for… we needed an increased salary. … Kloitze had to go back to longer shifts. Despite the circumstances, he couldn't even get a raise…"

Virginia paused for a moment, noticing her guest's vow of silence. Seeing his emotional shock obviously meant to her that his heart was captured by the tragic story. Therefore, she continued on.

"I needed him more than ever." This was blunt, upset, and almost _desperate_. "The nine months following my revelation led to become the worst year of my life. In my hours of need, nine times out of ten, he couldn't be there. Kloitze wanted to be there… he **did**. He would tell me himself. But it wasn't possible… all I had was Raine. She was more than happy to help me out during my second pregnancy. She was the only one joyful of this mistake at all… and she would tell me every day that she couldn't wait for her precious sister Jean to be greeted by the world. The world that would greet her with hatred, just from her bloodlines…" The tears began to flow. On full restraint, Genis wouldn't allow such things to fall from _his_ eyes.

He contained himself… it was especially hard considering that Genis was not one who held back on his true feelings, but he practically dictated himself to sit there, take these words, and remain silent.

"I couldn't do it," said Virginia. "I couldn't deal with it again… it was hard enough the first time, having to accept that everyone would hate my beautiful Raine for something so ridiculous as her race, an aspect she has _no control_ over." She absently grabbed a nearby tissue, pitifully drying her cheeks of the briny droplets. "Six months into the pregnancy, Kloitze had a night off… and he was so exhausted. It made me want to cry, seeing him still on his feet and helping me, because I was getting to the point where I could barely stand."

She frowned, the frustration building up in her aggravated face. "I was so angry, because it was as if the baby was _trying_ to make it harder for me… harder for us all, as if it wasn't really a part of the family. Just a… nuisance!"

Genis snapped out of his stone-cold expression on the spoken last word. _'Th-that's **me** she's talking about…!'_

"That's when I _told_ Kloitze," Virginia announced with a vengeance. "I told him that it was deception! And that it was unrealistic for us to keep this baby…! I couldn't say no to Raine in a serious manner… I don't think Kloitze could either. But Raine simply didn't understand. She didn't understand that because of this unwanted child, we were all **suffering**." Her fists pounded on the table! "It just… wasn't… WORTH IT!"

Her aghast son stared on and on. Until he couldn't stand to stare any longer… he was going to give _this woman_ a second chance…

"We came to an agreement," Virginia still went on, surprisingly in a more peaceful tone. "There just wasn't any way for us to keep a baby. He brought up termination… a premature delivery…" Her eyes lit up, yet they still seemed dim.

"An abortion."

Genis Sage set out to Exire with no one's permission but his own, to see the mother he never knew, and to learn about the father he'll never know.

His goal was to give his mother a second chance at life on the mainland, in the new world. He wanted to give her an opportunity to rekindle with her long lost family.

He was going to give his mother a second chance at life, but when it came to him… apparently, Virginia wasn't interested in even giving him one chance to live.

There was no way Genis could stand to listen to anything out of her mouth, or stand being in her rut of a household. Without another word, he stood up and bolted out the door as fast as his slender legs could take him.

Too emotionally distraught to even make it back to his Rheiard (much less operate it), Genis found himself crashing to his knees under a tree not far from Virginia's front yard. He grimaced, feeling his knees ache upon the rough contact with the emerging tree roots, but otherwise crumbled into a pile against the trunk. His repressed emotions were liberated from their stoic confines; not caring who heard or who minded, he let out all of his woes in a wavering, pitiful cry.

Fellow hated half-elves decided it was wisest to let Genis Sage do what he felt needed to be done, and no one was foolish enough to interrupt him, or even wander near him. There was plenty of time for Genis to sob his reaction right out of his body… dampening his skin, his clothes, the tree bark, and the lithe viridian grass all around him.

It was by this point that Genis recovered from his emotional anguish enough to be aware of where he was, what he was doing, and what had just happened. He suddenly wished for some way to see his reflection (be it by a pool of water, a mirror…), so he could easily wish damnation on himself for being absurd enough to think he could get through to a woman he doesn't know. Even after everything she said sank in… regardless of how much Genis knew now, he would never say that he knows Virginia Sage and what makes her tick.

"Stupid!" He spat, giving himself a slap on the wrist. "Idiot!" Another. "How could you think you could pull this off, Genis? HOW!" Yet another strike fell to his free hand, leaving a red mark that would remain for a while yet.

"Look at yourself!" he continued his self-loath charade further, still giving not a single care to who else could see him. He felt this was a time he seriously needed a one-on-one discussion… even if it was with himself. "You're in this place where no one knows you or likes you… even if you're the SAME RACE as them! Th-they don't care about you, Genis! They don't want to listen to what you have to say…" Genis glared (at himself, possibly?).

"You came up here, with this STUPID idea that mom would actually want to have you around…!" Slamming his fist into the tree seemed to accomplish much more than it actually did to Genis, but it didn't stop him from repeating this action several times. "That she'd even WANT your second chance! What kind of nonsense is that…! Well, she put you in your place, didn't she? She proved something today, Genis! She sure did!"

He had been standing on his knees for quite some time at this point, only to find himself slumping against the tree's harsh and uncouth bark cover; his arms were hung over above his head. Sweat and blood and tears coursed throughout inside and outside of his body in the most maddening patterns ever… Genis breathed in and out so hard that he thought his lungs had deflated.

"You're unwanted, don't you see…?" He sputtered with misery. "You're a liability, Genis… you know Raine wanted you, but look at what she had to sacrifice…" Genis did indeed reflect on what Raine gave up just to have a brother.

"A _brother_!" he remarked, in absolute disgust. "Raine didn't even want a brother! She wanted a sister! She had to settle for you instead! And because you were born, mom and dad had to abandon both of you…"

Genis didn't need Virginia to tell him anything else. He knew enough now to fill in the remaining blanks to the story of his life. If he could… call it a life, of course.

The impending results brought another round of tears from Genis. "Mom and dad _wanted_ you, Raine… they _loved_ you. Because of _you_, Genis, they had to let Raine go… and just so she could have you; she had to sacrifice her childhood! She had to grow up seven years earlier than anyone should have to!" A stuffy half-elven nose was imminent with a sudden case of the sniffles. "No one should have to become a mother when they're only eleven years old… especially when it's not really their child. It wasn't her fault… and now look at how it ended up." He harshly considered his next insult. "You were a destined mistake anyway, it looks like… do you really think your life was worth Raine giving up her freedom!"

Some other part of Genis' mind dared to say that at least he was able to give Raine company. It was likely that she would have grown a much more sorrowful and lifeless person, having to grow up by herself…

"Oh no, Raine couldn't be without _company_…" Genis cited with a sickening amount of sarcasm. "For the sake of company, let's make it even LESS likely for Raine to survive by giving her a baby to take care of!"

He paused, letting the wind currents carry his cries and anger throughout the sky. Just now, he was realizing once again that Exire was a very chilly, distant place. Looking up, he noticed that the hand he had been plummeting into the tree trunk was banged, bruised, and even full of blood-oozing cuts.

Genis gently held the injured hand as he shifted his position so that his back was leaning against the trunk and his dainty (but obviously filling out) body snuggled between the roots.

He let out a tiny gasp when he realized the hand he beat against the tree was the hand that hosted his exsphere; the tiny jewel of energy containing the elderly Marble's life force.

Feeling like he let out enough of his anger in the form of violence for the time being, Genis tenderly rubbed his fingers against the exsphere, gently uttering a few words out of worry that he might have damaged it when slamming it against the tree. Nothing apparent was broken, at the very least, and Genis felt no different outside of what initiated his pain, so he assumed it was a fortunate miss (or else the exsphere was just very durable).

The very lonely half-elf's fingertips continued to prod the blue globe partially sunken in his skin as he began to speak very softly. "I'm sorry, Marble… if I hurt you, I didn't mean it. You… you know I didn't mean it, right? I was just angry… and it wasn't at you. But I think I understand now." He paused, as if he were actually waiting for a response from the exsphere.

"Yeah… I can understand why Raine didn't want to tell me any of this," he concluded. "She didn't want me to know that I was a mistake and single-handedly ruined her life. I guess she didn't want me to feel bad for myself, like I do right now… she probably figured I'd reach a few epiphanies from this too, you know?" An _extremely_ half-hearted laugh followed this.

"You know, Marble, I could take this whole… not-being-wanted-from-birth thing and apply it to my whole life," Genis suggested, though it sounded like something he just that second thought of. "I was a mistake in the very beginning, and since I've been born… haven't I been doing nothing but making more mistakes…?"

Another pause followed the question. It was unclear how serious Genis was about getting the imaginary feedback…

"Come on," he urged, though softly. "It's my fault your soul is trapped in there. I know I was just trying to help, but… in the end, I did a lot more harm than good for you, didn't I?" Genis reflected on the memories from over two years ago, before the journey had even begun.

How he regretted the day he let Lloyd join him on that visit that later sealed Marble's fate. The event that later transformed the elderly slave into a monster with no hope of being saved which Genis himself and Lloyd ended up slaying. It angered Genis intensely to watch Lloyd time and time again take the blame for the incident…

"I screwed up," Genis admitted. "Not only did I ruin your life, but I ended your hopes of ever seeing your daughter or granddaughter again. … And as if that weren't enough, all of it put Chocolat in so much danger, and she blamed the wrong person for the incident…" He grimaced at the not-so fond memories. "It was like I was invisible! Almost no one would believe that it was really my fault! Maybe they all thought I was too little to be causing such chaos back then… b-but I guess they all learned the truth in time, right?"

A teenage half-elf consumed in guilt rested his head against his knees; his bare hand that was slapped on gently squeezed onto the tree-battered, exsphere-covered hand. He didn't even notice the trickles of blood creeping out of their sources from the pressure; there was so much on his mind, all at once. It was so much for even a genius like himself to handle…

"You never should've had to die, Marble," his voice hummed from his covered mouth. "If I hadn't gotten involved, you might've made it to see the worlds uniting… and maybe Iselia wouldn't have burned down. You know, I heard from Colette that they just now declared the village completely repaired? It took them nearly two years to rebuild what had been lost… _just_ because I wanted to help you!" A tiny tear pinched its way through Genis' squinted eyes. "I just… wish there was a better way for me to tell you I'm sorry… I can't believe I have to keep you in limbo just a bit longer so I can feel secure going on this stupid discrimination journey…"

Genis sat up straight and let out a very heavy sigh. He winced upon feeling his throat tickle, and looked flustered when he heard the dramatic change in the pitch of his voice just from the sound of his breathing. It was just another aspect of puberty he had to face; one day, his voice would make a permanent change and sound almost nothing like it did previously. It was all part of growing up. Genis even vaguely remembered how much Lloyd had changed between the ages of 15 and 16, and now being 14 himself, he knew his number would be up soon. For the moment, his voice was in its own limbo and having a very hard time deciding where its pitch wanted to be. It certainly didn't make talking to strangers any easier.

"Growing up isn't nearly as great as I thought it would be," he deducted with an exhausted tone. "I should've figured that much just from knowing what Raine had to go through, but I always hated being regarded as a stupid kid who doesn't know anything. I aced that stupid test in Palmacosta… Raine was the only one who even matched my scores. I was smarter than all of the adults on my team!"

Genis then paused to consider one member of his former team that probably had (and is still going through now) much more serious issues than him regarding… 'growing up'.

He looked to his exsphere. "Why am I complaining, Marble? Presea's probably struggling a lot more than I am now. I know I didn't make it any easier for her, especially since I was chasing after her since the day we met." His cheeks turned into an awkward shade of pink. "Then I had the gall to ask her out after it was all over. I should've seen the outcome by a mile… I knew something wasn't right when we learned about her sister…"

No one had really sat down and done the math on Presea's true age until she brought it up herself. Everyone assumed she was in her late teens or so, but adding the sixteen years since Alicia's death plus her physical age at which she stopped aging around the same time…

"I felt like such a dork," Genis lamented. "All this time, I had a crush on someone two years shy of 30… I-I'm not sure if it really counts since she didn't really do any maturing after getting that crystal, but she knew in her heart that she wasn't anywhere near my level, apparently. And she was still too nice to come and outright reject me until she had no choice but to do that when I decided to open my big mouth." Of course, digging up this two year-old memory wasn't easing the pain at all.

Of course, incidents this old were nothing but dull pains compared to what he was currently going through. "At least she was nice enough to still want to be friends with me, even though I never really see her anymore. I should've known not to suggest something stupid like a long-distance relationship… I already knew I'd be going on this journey before I asked her out. And I should've known that she'd be opting for helping out Regal until she could live on her own… it must be tough, being treated like a kid when you're _really_ not. I can argue about my maturity all I want, but… I know I'm still a kid deep down. There's… there's really no defining what Presea really is, and that's… gotta hurt a lot." That's when Genis realized that trying to feel sorry for his friends really wasn't helping him get his mind off his immediate problem at all. He reached a very similar conclusion, even.

"She rejected me too, didn't she, Marble?"

Of course, the exsphere was short on any kind of helpful word.

"Yeah," Genis imagined agreeing to whatever response he thought he had heard. "Rejected by my family, rejected by my first crush… I must be a real pest, right? Iselia rejected me for trying to help you, too. I guess that's what I do best outside of making mistakes… getting rejected."

Rejection was a harsh word, no doubt. A very powerful one for Genis Sage, who upon saying it, found all the ways the nasty concept was a part of his life.

Even when it came to people he held so dear…

"At least I didn't do anything to mess up Presea's life directly," Genis said with mild, yet short-lived relief. "That's more than what I can say for Mithos… poor guy."

With Mithos, Genis figured, there were many good things and many bad things. The good things were some of his best life experiences, while the bad… well, they were some of the worst. And unfortunately for him, it just had to end on a bad note.

"When I look through the events of two years ago through his eyes, I must've seemed like a real traitor," Genis realized, with melancholy reflection. "But I couldn't think of a way to make everyone happy… I still can't think of how I would've done it differently. I was either going to turn my back on him or on Lloyd. Things wouldn't have been all that great if I had joined Mithos… so I guess, at least, I made the right choice…"

Certain memories _really_ wanted Genis to think otherwise, however…

"But he was… you know, like _me_. He's really a lot like me," Genis mentioned, the eeriness of this memory and the wind chill making him shiver on cue. "I probably would've ended up the exact same way if I had been born in his time period… and he was a half-elf, like me. We… well, I thought we understood each other. It felt like he confided in me, and… when he needed help, I couldn't… come through for him."

Unlike previous incidents, Genis was aware of these feelings as the events were happening with Mithos. They conflicted in his mind and created a great deal of confusion for the adolescent, which to this day hadn't cleared up much since. It was too late to do much about what Genis decided to do in the end, but for reflecting, Genis really questioned his own integrity.

Overall, it didn't at all give Genis much in the way of self-confidence. "I deserve to be rejected by him, in any case. It still hurts because it was so sudden, because I still remember the times we shared… and… having to look at them as… Mithos just trying to pull me to his side… it _hurts_, Marble. It… it just _kills_ me!" But it didn't make them any less true.

"You know how much trouble it put Lloyd and Colette and the others in just for me to be sensitive about his cause?" And that was only the tip of the iceberg…

"I just wish I… really got a chance to _talk_ to him before he left me," Genis wished; he wished and wished and wished as hard as he could (for someone who grew up knowing that wishing on the stars was illogical), but none of his ideals would ever come true, unlike Lloyd's. "I really thought I… got through to him on the last night. It wasn't **easy** to accept him as Yggdrasill, Marble. It was anything but."

The fateful night at Altessa's when Genis attempted to confront Mithos about his identity in confidence left Genis with some very mixed feelings. Considering what entailed before Yggdrasill ended the conversation by knocking him unconscious, Genis thought that it was pretty much understood in an unspoken promise that no one would ever know of the events held on that emotional evening. Neither Yggdrasill or Mithos spoke of the incident ever again, and… even if Genis wanted to, there was no way he could bring himself to admit what he let happen to him.

He didn't want to think about his sister's reaction if she learned that Mithos Yggdrasill was her little brother's first kiss.

It was a definite mixture of embarrassment and shame. But upon looking over the details and how they were handled, Genis realized something disturbing. Even if he was too young to know for sure, especially back then…

"You know… there's a pretty big difference between a first crush and a first love."

Regardless, magical first experiences couldn't save Mithos' life. It didn't change that Genis was directly involved in putting Mithos down like a suffering dog, and for that, he felt he deserved every bit of rejection earned from it.

A downtrodden half-elf tugged on his long locks of silver hair in frustration. "If Virginia can have a worst year of her life, then so can I… the first year after the worlds were united _was_ the worst year of my life."

Kind of ironic, considering how much good came out of that year.

"I think it's going to stay that way for a while, too." But hopefully not for his entire lifetime; he was a half-elf, after all. He had a guaranteed long lifespan. There was plenty of room for incidents greater than the death of Mithos to take the coveted position.

… But when one thinks about it, that doesn't really make the road ahead seem much brighter for Genis, now does it?

"It's not like it was unreasonable for Mithos to reject me," Genis wanted to make this known very clearly to his exsphere. "If I were in the same position, I probably would've done the same to him. After all, he's been alive a lot longer than I have… I probably wasn't more than a blip on his radar, when it comes right down to it."

Four thousand years to (at the time) Genis' twelve did seem like the impossible gap to form a bridge upon.

"I came in too late to help," he said with a loathing realization. "I didn't do enough to count for a good effort, either. He probably held people like… Kratos and Yuan more dear than me, and he couldn't _stand_ either of them…"

He briefly wondered, though, why this would make him feel a twinge of… jealousy?

Amongst other things that made Genis experience similar jealous feelings…

"But it's understandable," Genis said with a consenting defeat. "Mithos rejected me because I ruined his life. Like I ruined Raine's… because our family rejected me. Like how Presea rejected me… I can understand why they all did what they did. But there's one thing that _still_ bothers me…"

There was another beat; another brief period of silence before Genis enlightened his imaginary audience on his lingering problem.

"I don't get why Lloyd of all people would reject me too," Genis even sounded horrified as he said it. "He was supposed to be my best friend, right? The guy I could confide in, no matter what? It didn't matter that he was a human… he _was_ the one who saved the world, after all…"

Being the best friend of Aselia's hero did not come with nearly as much credibility in Genis' favor as it should have, he knew.

"You know, Marble, even though I'm totally all for this… end of half-elf discrimination, I didn't really want to do it at first. I figured that no one would listen to a kid and that I'd just be getting in the way… and so far, it looks like I'm right. But I kind of got lassoed into this by Raine," he admitted, with some sort of tension. "At first, I wanted to go with Lloyd… Lloyd was going to go on a mission across the new world to find all the exspheres to destroy them. So he can free the souls of all the victims, you know? We freed people like Alicia and Mithos that way."

Of course, Genis initially thought this was the way to honor Mithos' memory and to do some good in his own right; by doing justice with his most trusted friend at his side. Unfortunately, things didn't go as he planned…

"He's doing that mission right now," he said. "We all heard about it when we released Origin's seal. That was when Mithos possessed Sheena's body, and Lloyd said he made a promise to Sheena that they were going to go on that mission together. When I thought about it, it seemed like a great idea. So I asked him about it, but…"

Recalling that day made his face grow dark. "She was there at the time; Sheena was. I really wanted to do my best and make Lloyd's dreams come true… I felt like I owed him that, for everything he did for me. But I should've known…"

The chilliness of Exire reminded Genis of the light sprinkles of snowflakes in Flanoir.

"When we were in Flanoir two years ago… when it was just me and him, and Sheena, and Colette… I was finally ready to open up to him," the adolescent half-breed's voice cracked with uneasiness. "I really needed someone to talk to, after Mithos revealed himself to be the enemy… I felt like I didn't have anyone left! I tried to be innocent about it, Marble! I just asked him if he wanted to go out and see the snow with me… he just said he was sorry, that he wasn't up for it. I… I figured I understood why since so much had happened, especially since it was only recently at that time when Lloyd found out about Kratos…"

Finally, there were tears. "I was miffed about it, but I didn't protest… I just gave him some time alone. I thought he _needed_ that, you know? And then later… I looked out the window. You know what I saw, Marble? _Him_. He was out there, talking to _Sheena_…!"

Furiously, Genis wiped the fresh tears away. "I didn't want to _think_ about why Lloyd would rather talk to her than his own best friend! Someone he's known for SO many years…!" Perhaps, possibly… more jealousy was fueling this new rage. "And back then, I didn't have a lot of time to reflect on it because of how things were. But when he brought up the exsphere mission, I thought participating in that would be a great way to… try to rekindle things with him, you know?" The hope in Genis' voice had no doubt overstepped the borderline called desperation.

"We could open up and be close again; I thought that's something we really needed after everything that happened," Genis seemed to have some sort of a bitter smile across his weary face.

How long had this talk with Virginia lasted? A couple of hours, at most? Genis started his ascent to Exire only a little after noon. To him, it already felt like an entire day had come and gone… and him not getting any sleep between the hours.

"But when I asked Lloyd," Genis resumed. "After it was all over and he was set to go out, and I noticed Sheena there… I asked him anyway. I figured it was a no-brainer that she'd be coming along, but it wasn't like I minded. I mean… maybe I thought she was stealing my best friend from under my nose, but I don't have anything _personal_ against Sheena… and her being there didn't mean I couldn't make up with Lloyd."

After another pause, Genis' fingers tapped on his exsphere. "I realized that the few times I'm _really_ optimistic… they're always the times when I'm wrong, Marble. … They didn't want me coming with them. They wouldn't outright say it to me, but… I saw it in their faces. They looked kind of horrified that I would ask to join them; like I wasn't supposed to, or something. H-how was I supposed to know it was going to be a private mission for two!"

Once again, Genis raised his voice with no concern to whoever near his area could possibly hear it.

"If Lloyd wanted it to just be him and her, why'd he go and yell it out where everyone could hear him back when Sheena was kidnapped!" he demanded, but to no one in particular. "That idiot… I could see right through him and Sheena's charade. They kept asking me stupid questions if I was prepared for such a dangerous mission… that I'd be away from home for a long time because of the mission's lengthiness… you know. They basically treated me like a kid. Even though I just WENT THROUGH a lengthy and dangerous mission with them trying to save the two worlds…!"

The mood had never before been darker. "They were discouraging me on purpose; trying to make it seem unappealing so I'd change my mind about wanting to come along. So they could be alone… did they really think I was that oblivious?"

His expressions… were nothing short of indignant. "They wanted to reject me, but they were just like Presea. They didn't really have the guts to come right out and reject me until I wouldn't leave them with any other choice! …."

There was another pause.

"I didn't manage to push them to that breaking point; not like how I did with Presea," Genis admitted. "I was cornering them because I wasn't buying their concern one bit, but that's when Raine came in an announced her idea for _this_ little journey I'm stuck in right now." There was a particular tone of disgust when he was forced to acknowledge his current place.

"Of course, Raine assumed I would be all for her idea and dragged me off before I could get a word in edgewise," and the mood continued to remain morose. "Not that I've ever been able to do so in the past, anyway… not without getting smacked for it."

Sisterly abuse would always be the thing Genis considered the most painful, still.

"Either way, I haven't seen Lloyd or Sheena since that time. I assume they took their chance and went off before I could get back to them…" The conclusion crept up, as Genis let out a very, all-too-knowing sigh.

"They were both too chicken to admit it… but they didn't want me."

Point.

"They **rejected** me."

Point.

"Just like Iselia."

Point.

"Just like Presea."

Point.

"Just like Mithos."

Point.

"Just like my parents."

And to think… one visit made all this so terribly clear to Genis Sage.

Briefly, Genis broke away from his shell; his personal area that made sure to alienate any innocent passerby, and surveyed his surroundings. He was still but a few feet away from Virginia's hut. He looked to the tree he hid himself under; not majestic or grand by any means, but considering the environmental conditions, it seemed to be in fairly good shape. It certainly stood out from the pathetic mass of twigs and bark that made up the rest of the trees in Exire.

Finally, Genis glanced down and noted that his position was quite precarious. If only a foot away, there was a ledge. The grass swayed here and there, and in the end, seemed to spill out from over where Genis could no longer see land. Slowly leaning over to further inspect, he noticed he was… indeed…

Not even a foot away from an insanely long and fatal descent to the Aselian mainland.

But for some odd reason, this fact didn't bother Genis as much as it normally would have. Usually a careful and logical youth, Genis showed… quite the blatant apathy for the impending drop. He glanced back to the exsphere holding Marble's very own life.

"I guess that's a lot to absorb, right?" Genis asked with a very uneasy and forced laugh. "It's even a lot for me to take... I mean, I'm just noticing all this. I can't believe it… Lloyd's dense mind must've been rubbing off on me… that dork."

In two years, only talking to his mother opened Genis' eyes to something of a revelation. Everything he had been doing… it now felt as if it were all done in vain. All because…

"I'm a mistake," Genis stated. "Even when I've got good intentions, all I do is make mistakes and hurt people. Maybe… talking to Virginia and having her enlighten me on this is something of a **sign**." He glanced to the exsphere he so desperately clung to for comfort. "What do you think?"

There was a long period of silence following this. It seemed, however, that Genis had given up believing in his own charade that he was even 'talking' to Marble in the first place, and decided to determine matters for himself. After all…

He was alone.

"I think it makes a lot of sense," he finally realized. "After all… I made my parents miserable. Raine, the only one who wanted me, was made miserable by being forced to take care of me…" Perhaps this was the thing that left Genis ridden with the most guilt. "I was unwanted by Iselia, and… pretty much every other place on this planet. I had to fight for my right to even _stay_ in my own home. And it turns out that my own closest friends… Lloyd, Presea, and Mithos didn't even want to deal with me any longer than they had to."

Genis looked over the edge.

"I'm fourteen years old," he said. "I'm not as little as I used to be… but I'm still referred to as a child who doesn't know anything. Nothing I do will change their perceptions; … no one will listen. That's… _not_ a good thing when I'm half of this movement to end half-elf discrimination!" His uninjured fist slammed against the ground. "I'm _useless_! Raine is almost completely carrying this movement by herself! That's why she's so desperate that she's trying to enlist other half-elves like Harley and Kate! Because I'm nothing more than MORAL SUPPORT! I'm making it harder to fulfill HER dreams…!"

It was strange, but… seeing the faintly-detailed surface of Aselia made it seem to glow with… invitation?

"When you're a problem of this level… the b-best thing to do… is to be dealt with in a manner that'll please everyone." Genis rose up to his feet, speaking in a solemn, soft voice.

"Who am I kidding?" He wondered… it didn't even seem to be directed at Marble anymore. "If I'm going to benefit anyone, this is probably the only way… so… I don't mind." He drew in a breath before taking a long step forward. "I'm kind of… tired of being here anyway…"

The fall was not nearly as abrupt as the impact.

The impact being, of course, a pair of arms encircling around Genis' petite body just before it left the island entirely. Genis Sage's eyes widened as he found his legs dangling over a staggering amount of altitude and his arms being secured by the arms that created them…

Or rather, Virginia Sage.

At the very least, an intrusion like _this_ wasn't expected, or even imagined! "W-what're you doing!" Genis screamed, sounding strangled with desperation. "Let me GO!"

After risking her _own_ safety to save him, Virginia almost looked hurt by the statement. "W-why are you saying that! You'll be…!"

"I **have** to end this!" Genis declared boldly. "You don't know me, so don't even pretend to! You don't have any idea why it's necessary to end my life here and now! Before I ruin somebody else I care about…!"

"You're right," Virginia conceded. "I could never understand why anyone would give up their own life under _any _circumstance." She sharply looked down at him. "Especially someone as young as you, with a full life not yet lived… you couldn't possibly be giving up already!"

Whether Genis wanted it or not, Virginia pulled his entire body up from the ledge. It wasn't without its struggles, as Virginia didn't look nor seem like one with physical strength to spare. But she had it now; this instance… she was drawing it from _somewhere_; on her own, she brought the whole of Genis' body back to Exire's soil.

And in another unexpected move, Virginia wasted no time and brought Genis up in a heartfelt embrace; the kind Genis only otherwise shared with his sister. It was strange… because the two embraces suddenly felt so similar…

"You were looking to be like such a nice guest," She muttered, nuzzling into Genis' mop of hair that matched her own in color. "But then you ran out on me before I could finish my story…! That's… very rude of you!"

Genis didn't have anything to say back at this time. He was still absorbing the shock of what he had almost done, and who saved him from doing it. Actually being hugged by his own mother seemed to have a lasting effect on him as well, and possibly Virginia herself… she was looking at Genis as if he were more than just a houseguest now.

But it was still unclear if she…

"I want you to listen to everything," she told him. "You're the only one who's spoken to me since my children and Kloitze left me… you _must _hear me out! I've needed it… for so many years now..."

Genis did not protest, but clearly reacted in no other way. Above all else… at least he was listening.

Virginia took this as Genis' consent to her wishes. "Look, dear. Considering all the things that happened in my life… the things that devastated me and made me miserable… don't you think I would have thought about suicide as well?"

'_Almost certainly,'_ Genis thought. _'But you're still alive…'_

"I've spent so many years alone," Virginia said. "Without Raine, without my husband… without any other family member or friend to keep me company and ease the pain. I've lost count of the times I've considered the prospect of ending my life…" At this point, it seemed she was holding back some sort of emotion within her. Genis looked up as he recovered from his shock, and noticed some familiar tears trying to fight their way out of Virginia's confines.

"I can't do it," she confessed. "I understand that after everything that happened, my children would probably… _hate_ me and never want to be associated with me again. But… I have no way of knowing for certain, dear. What if… they wanted to know who I am? Who I was?"

'_Like I did,'_ Genis noted.

"They would never be able to learn if I had given up… if I had killed myself," she said, in a near-whisper. "I want to stay to be there for them to learn, should they ever feel the need, my dear. I have not been there for them for so long… at the very least, I owe them to stay on this existential plane for as long as I can…" She looked to the sky.

"I could sense Kloitze telling me that he felt the same way. That he would be unhappy if I joined him too early."

Genis blinked. She seemed to go against her former belief that he was still alive and accepted the truth quite abruptly. It was an irrelevant matter now, but perhaps Genis did successfully break Virginia out of her looping life earlier in the conversation…

"It didn't change the fact that… I'm scared," Virginia uttered.

"Scared?" Genis finally spoke, but his words were even lighter-said than his mother's.

"I know I deserve it," she continued. "But every parent is afraid of being hated by their young. It's nothing any parent would want… and my children could hate me for all the right reasons if they wanted to."

And they did. Well, Raine did; Genis saw that for himself… the hard way. As for Genis' own thoughts on his mother…

"When Genis was born, I decided to try and look at this as a new beginning… not a beginning of a descent to the end," Virginia spoke, almost hopefully. "When he came into the world, I had never seen a brighter smile on my Raine's face in all her eleven years. It was easier… to be happy for her. Kloitze even took it all in stride. Over the next few days, I wondered… even though things would be harder with Genis around…"

Genis almost completely forgot that he was pretending to be somebody else for this entire visit. In-character, a rebuttal finally formed in his occupied mind. "Y-you didn't get rid of him prematurely?"

"Raine overhead," she replied. "She wouldn't have any of it. She said she would never forgive us if we denied an unborn the chance to live and enrich our lives." Virginia seemed to look at Genis with somewhat of a knowing glance… but still came out front with nothing.

"In those hard times, we had to stay together as a family," she explained. "Kloitze and I tried to be firm with her about how it was unmanageable, but then… she ran away from us." Virginia looked terrified at the memory. "For days, we searched, until Kloitze finally managed to take some time off work to assist me. We finally found her in the darkest depths of the Ymir Forest…"

Genis himself looked disturbed, trying to picture his beloved and mature sister doing something so… _juvenile_.

"She tried to run away from us again!" Virginia exclaimed in horror. "She was dirty and cold… she looked like she hadn't eaten in days. My Raine had nothing but the tattered clothes on her back, but she wouldn't come back to us! She was desperate… but she still refused. Until we agreed to her terms…"

"Her… terms?" Genis was otherwise rendered speechless, once more.

"To give Genis a chance," Virginia's answer couldn't have been clearer. "Raine was convinced that Genis was a part of our family the very moment he was conceived. She was… _adamant_ that he was destined to become one with our family. Even if Kloitze and I had no intention of making that so…"

"So that's why…"

"We had him for her sake," Virginia clarified. "Of course, no matter how much trouble he caused… after he was born and I held him in my arms, I wondered… how could I hate such a precious thing…?"

'_Precious…I was…?'_

"I had him for one week," she said with regret. "After that, we were finally discovered. All of us… officials in Meltokio and Sybak realized the potential that Raine held and wanted to perform tests on her. They found a fresh victim in my Genis, who they could practically control from the very beginning of his life…"

Genis knew this much already, but seemed almost… _moved_ that for the first time, Virginia acknowledged Genis as hers.

"We had no choice but to bring what necessities we could and leave our home," Virginia was at this point, again, rather weepy. "Kloitze and I vowed not to surrender our children to anyone… even if it meant that we could never see them again. That's when we thought of the Otherworldly Gate. We just barely made it in time, to send them to Sylvarant where they would be… at least a little bit safer."

There was quietness on both ends.

"And… I believe I've told you the rest," she said. Genis confirmed this with a nod.

"So… I only had my son for a week. That wasn't enough time to… really determine anything. If I could love him, if I couldn't love him…"

Genis saw it fit to put in just one question. "… Did you _want_ to love him?"

Virginia sighed. "I had every intention of trying. But trying… wouldn't win him over if I were to see him today. I want to see him, what he looks like now… how he's grown… if he's even alive…"

It seemed to be weird to talk about himself hypothetically, Genis knew well enough by now. He knew how _he_ felt, but to Virginia, _he_ was still just someone for her to talk to. He needed an answer that she would believe, coming from him.

"If Raine's as great as you say she is," he stated. "And she was the one who had to raise him when you couldn't… I've got no doubt in my mind that he's still out there. Most likely, still with Raine. How old would he be today?" Still awkward…

"He would be fourteen years old," Virginia answered automatically; she didn't even need a second to do the math. "Fourteen years, four months, and twenty-two days."

Even Genis himself wasn't aware of that many details right off the bat. "… You keep track?"

Virginia gave the affirmative gesture. "He would be too young to live on his own, so I agree that if he's alive, he wouldn't be far from Raine. Then again… Raine had to learn how to manage on her own when she was eleven years, two months, and thirty—"

"I'm sure they're sticking together!" Genis cut her off, as he was uninterested in the unnecessary details, both in _and_ out-of-character. "You won't know for sure if you don't get off this island and look for them…!"

Virginia regarded Genis with sadness. "You were going to kill yourself, correct?"

That effectively dampened the mood. Genis recalled his uselessness and realized getting her hopes up would be meaningless if he wasn't going to be there for her to find. "… Right…"

"Without you, I couldn't leave Exire," she said, attempting to be helpful. "And I can't give Genis and Raine that second chance they deserve…" She considered her next sentence carefully. "It's true that in the beginning, I didn't want Genis. No one but Raine did. But I can't change the fact… that I had him anyway, if only for Raine's sake. But… I'm not afraid to admit that I'm wrong."

"What would you be wrong about?"

"I didn't want Genis… but maybe if I could see him again… I could learn to love him anyway," Virginia mused. "And then I would be sorry to ever… consider getting rid of him, you see? I think it's entirely possible, if he'd only give me a chance…"

Genis was about to utter an answer, his character visibly breaking, but then…

"Listen to me, sir," she asserted. "I would _only_ end my life if that's what my children wished for. If it would make their day to see my body lifeless and cold, I would do it without a second thought. I owe them their happiness! The happiness only a mother could bring!"

It was a morbid statement, Genis knew. But still, somehow, it made a little bit of sense…

"The lesson is that you should never end your life if there's a chance that ANYONE would mourn it!" Virginia declared, with such boldness… it was very reminiscent of Raine passionately teaching a history lesson. "Tell me, would truly _no one_ miss you if you died…?"

Genis thought hard. He was absorbed in the evidence that suggested that he was a useless person, but… if he were to _die_… especially by killing himself…

Raine would mourn, without a doubt. Offing himself would make her feel alone… similar to how Genis currently felt, only… in a much more indefinite sense. All the hard work she did for him would be in vain, and it was obvious that Raine would most likely blame herself for the incident entirely. Genis didn't want that on his conscience, even post-mortem. The deaths of Marble and Mithos already weighed so much…

Presea would mourn. It was unclear to Genis just how bad she would feel about it or if she would be ridden with any sort of guilt, but in his heart, Genis knew Presea at least loved him like she would a good friend. She would mourn the death of any of her comrades that she fought tooth-and-nail for her freedom with. And with her current obstacles ahead, mourning the loss of a friend would definitely not make things easier for her.

Lloyd would mourn. Though he had moved on to other things and didn't see his best friend on a daily basis anymore, Genis knew his permanent departure would leave some kind of void in Lloyd's soul. All the time he dedicated to earning Genis' trust would have been for naught… and though Lloyd was an oblivious person, he would take responsibility for lost lives at the drop of a hat, whether or not he was the cause of it. With Genis, there would be no questioning. Lloyd would blame himself just as much as Raine would.

Many would mourn, even if they were not particularly close to Genis. Even people he was naturally adverse to, like Zelos, Regal… even Kratos. It was clear now that _none_ of them would have anything to benefit from Genis' death. Not even in the long run.

Even Virginia herself would mourn until the day of her own death for her lost son. She had spoken and felt enough now that Genis could see it. She didn't know him, but…

"Please, _answer me_," Virginia pleaded, breaking Genis out of his line of thought. "Would no one miss you?"

Genis shook off some lingering hesitance. "I guess you have a point, Virginia…"

"I would miss you," she said, quite out of the blue. "I don't even know your name, but I can tell that you're a good person who _deserves_ to continue living. Whatever made you think you don't have the right to be alive… it must be wrong!"

Once again, Genis felt that flustered feeling. "I… appreciate the sentiment…"

It was a lesson learned with difficulty, and almost came with a price that could not be repaid. But it was finally realized to Genis Sage… no matter how rejected and unwanted he could be or feel, death would not make any of it go away. And death would not help anything or anyone. How ironic that it was finally his mother that taught him something so valuable…

"You're right," Genis admitted, nodding to Virginia. "I'm sorry for upsetting you… and being rude and leaving like that… but I think I can understand your plight a bit. I think it just hit a little too close to home, somehow…"

Needless to say, Virginia was curious. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well… just recently, I found out about my heritage," Genis explained, trying to control some inward shivering as he hoped his 'lie' didn't seem too suspicious. "And I learned… that _I_ was a mistake. Just some accident my parents had no intention of making, and that I was unwanted, just like your son. It really… hurt to learn that."

Thankfully, it seemed that Virginia wasn't making any connections. "Oh, my… I-I'm sorry. I wasn't aware…"

"That's because I didn't tell you," he said, smiling. "But it's okay. I could relate to your story a lot. Ever since I learned that fact, I felt like all I've ever done was make mistakes since then. And I never really got to know who my parents were, either. I was separated from them when I was really young…"

"That's terrible," Virginia quietly remarked. Her sympathy was overflowing.

"But," Genis said, followed with a dramatic pause. "If I could ever have the chance to meet my parents again… even just once, I'd do it. I would be all for it. Even knowing that they didn't want me around, I believe in second chances."

"Second… chances…?"

"That's what you want to do, right?" Genis inquired. "You didn't want a son at first, but if you saw him again, you'd try to… patch things up, wouldn't you? You'd want to get to know him?"

"I'm scared, but…" Virginia looked sincere. "I want to. I would love to… if he would give me that chance… maybe we can understand each other. I'd give anything to see him and Raine before I die!"

Something had just occurred to Genis. "You know what I think?"

More curiousness was aroused. "What's that?" she asked.

"I think…" Genis was talking on a whim, something he rarely did. But when the words came out… it felt natural. "I think it takes a little love from everyone to create a life."

"You mean…?"

"Maybe you didn't know it at the time, but maybe all the love didn't come completely from Raine. After all, despite the lack of intention… Genis was created from the love of you and your husband in the first place, correct?" For some reason, he wanted his mother to hug him again… never before had he been forced to hold back so much on his emotions.

Virginia recalled the night; that desperate night. The night both she and Kloitze so desired to be together and made every passing second count for it in the name of their love.

"You're saying it was our love that gave us a second child," she said almost breathlessly. "We were both so ignorant at the time, consumed in financial matters and the racial threats and the state of the world…"

Genis regarded her very seriously. "You said you'd try to love him… but what if you already do?"

Virginia gasped. Her pupils shrunk and her skin blanched almost whiter than her hair. "I… feel it…"

"Feel what?"

Virginia moved away from Genis. She stood. She looked to Genis as if she expected him to follow suit, and soon enough, he did. Otherwise, he wasn't entirely following her line of thought. Either way, Virginia looked very determined.

"You have a way off this refuge, correct?" she asked him, terse and sharp.

"Y-yes," Genis affirmed, if a little startled. "I have a Rheiard not too far from here. I can take us down to Aselia in a matter of minutes…"

"And you said Raine was on a journey to eliminate half-elf discrimination?" she asked for verification, in which Genis nodded to. "Do you have an idea of where she is currently? Even a general area would do enough…"

He had done it. Genis was amazed at his resilience, but he had actually managed to get Virginia wanting to leave Exire and actively searching for her children. It was like a dream come true…

"A-ah… last I heard, she was campaigning in Asgard," he said. "It was formerly in Sylvarant, but since the worlds merged, every place in Sylvarant and Tethe'alla are on the same planet. We're actually passing over it as we speak. If we hurry…"

Virginia stared for a second, still nervous, though also still firm. She remained quiet, possibly processing the risk she was taking in trusting someone she just this day met, to take her out of the place she's hidden in for years, to search for children who might not even want her back…

But a desire for change won in the end. "Let's go. Immediately. Please take me to Asgard."

There was no more time wasted in talking. Genis led Virginia to the Rheiard, ignored anyone who might've dared to say a word to either of them, and took off. For Genis, at least, this wouldn't be a permanent departure… he'd surely return to the refuge one day, when discrimination finally ended.

For now, there was a more immediate and personal matter to resolve. After all, it had been ignored for so long.

As the pair made their descent, Genis sighed in relief, making his first honest and true smile in years. There were plenty of times that he smiled out of spite, trying to hide sadness or pain, or just from nervousness…. But this time, it was genuine.

His mind was finally at peace. His curiosity was cured.

Not too many people stirred upon seeing the Rheiard land right plainly in Asgard. Most were familiar enough with Genis and Raine's mission to know they spent a lot of time flying in and out of areas.

Remaining with Virginia during her search would feel too suspicious, Genis figured. After all, to Virginia, he was still just a messenger and thus had no business meddling in a family affair. When she found Raine, she would most definitely want it to be just the two of them.

"This is it?" Virginia inquired, as she had never seen a place such as Asgard before. Outside of Exire and Heimdall, it was obvious that Virginia hadn't been out to see the world often.

"Yeah," Genis said, almost breathlessly. He remained seated in his Rheiard. "It's not too big of a place, and the locals won't mind seeing an elf around. I heard the campaigning went successfully here, so no one's intolerant to different races in this town." He flashed a broad smile to his mother. "There are nice people here, and I hear Raine's kind of a popular town heroine, so I'm sure anyone would direct a mother to her lost children in a heartbeat, especially if it's a relative of Raine."

"I suppose I owe you a great deal of gratitude, sir," Virginia said, shaking Genis warmly by the hand. "I don't know just how to repay you, but…"

"Just find your kids and be honest with them," Genis cut in. "It just means a lot to me to be able to reunite a family." He spoke a little quieter. "At least I can rest knowing I've done good for _somebody_…"

"Hm?" Virginia's sharp ears caught it, and they certainly were wondering what her savior could have meant.

But Genis felt like he wasted enough of her time already; the more seconds he let pass made an even wider gap between Raine and Virginia, and he needed that to be filled first before he could properly introduce himself to his mother…

"It's nothing. Hey, just…" Genis had trouble finding the appropriate parting sentiment. "Good luck…!" And with that, he blasted off on his Rheiard as fast he could, not leaving Virginia a moment to return his sentiment with a goodbye of her own.

Of course, Genis only flew further into the depths of Asgard beyond where Virginia could see him. After parking his Rheiard in a safe hiding place, he sprinted across the town of ruins to the hotel room where he and Raine were staying.

At his pace and the length he would have to travel, it would still take an agonizing few minutes.

Virginia, however, was fortunate to get directions to Raine's location from the first person she asked. Fending off the nervousness, the anticipation, the exhilaration… she approached the building and she opened the door.

She asked the clerk up front for the room, and mentioned the relation. The clerk was more than happy to assist and gave her a key. All things considering, her striking physical similarities to her daughter were more than enough convincing for anyone to know she was a Sage relative.

Virginia Sage trudged up the stairs and to the desired door with the matching room number that was emblazoned on her key. She unlocked the door and turned the knob…

The first thing she saw was a mildly distraught Raine Sage, looking for something very important that had appeared to have gone missing: her brother.

Time froze.

It was broken by the weak and aged whisper of a full-blooded elf uttering her daughter's name. There was no doubt about it… two years ago, she was deaf and blind to the world around her. Since her visitor relinquished her of the veil… it all seemed so clear; so obvious. So elementary, like the air she breathed.

Raine was stunned and knew she must have been dreaming. That an occurrence such as this was improbable, _impossible_… un**thinkable**! Words couldn't even begin to describe the hallucination; all she could do was gawk and breathe. The gawk faded into a stare, when she noticed her mother's knowing eyes.

She still couldn't understand when her body allowed for this mother of hers to _hug_ her… to embrace and squeeze her with fourteen years' worth of lost love. To her, it felt familiar. In a sense, it was still very creepy… but it wasn't the first time Raine had ever been hugged by her own mother.

It was merely the first time in a _long_ time since the last hug.

And for another first, Raine allowed her emotions to take control of her actions. She returned the hug, as her logic remained baffled that such a scene was happening at all. This was still something she wanted, something she _needed_ for ages… and a mother's love is one thing that she needed that she wouldn't even admit to her own brother.

Silence filled the room whilst a mother and daughter let the emotional shock fade off as they embraced. Both felt that a lot was left to be said, true…

But now, there was time. There was time to let it all be said and not rushed. And now, they could have a real conversation as a mother and daughter. Matters could be dealt with naturally. Raine had no idea how Virginia found her way here, or how long she would remain, or even how long she would remain for this world… but the abandoned child inside her cherished a hope that her mother would be here to stay.

It was the first time in fourteen years that Raine could even consider something like a childish thought or desire.

The silence was respected, because so much was said without words. But Virginia had to break it, because a question was already begging to come out of her mouth, and it was about something important.

"Where's your brother…? … I want to meet him…"

'_Genis!'_ Raine's eyes snapped wide open in fear. She just then remembered that he had wandered off somewhere. He didn't leave so much as a concise note hinting his whereabouts… and once again, the worries tore away at her body. He was older now, true, and knew definitely where he was going for certain, but past experiences of losing Genis to his wandering tendencies would leave emotional scars that would never quite heal.

The worst thing Raine could do was fail at being a good mother right in the eyes of her own.

She was about to utter a word; something coming right off the top of her head, for she couldn't begin to imagine where Genis could be right at the moment… but she had to reply with _something_, as Virginia's expectant eyes fixated on her.

That was when the door opened once more. Raine sighed with relief, seeing Genis standing at the entrance.

Genis, of course, expected to see Virginia there, but didn't expect this embrace. He stared for a bit… and waited for Virginia to notice a new guest had entered the room. When she turned her head, she nearly jumped. A certain thought had crossed her mind, but after a split second, it wore off, and she remembered who he… 'was'.

"You're back?" Virginia asked, nothing short of puzzled. "But… I don't understand. Where is my son…? Where's my Genis?"

Raine gave Virginia a look, but Virginia didn't notice it. Then, Raine gave the same gesture to Genis, who felt a little awkward with two gaping women focused on him.

"G-Genis," Raine sputtered, still disbelieving. "_You're_ behind this! _You_ brought her here!"

"Genis!" Virginia snapped, acknowledging Raine and then immediately back to the sole surviving male of the Sage family.

He finally looked up and smiled; yes, it was another of the genuine kind. Tears formed, but they were happy tears. It was untelling how long it had been since Genis cried out of joy; possibly even longer since his last genuine smile. But he proudly let the tears stream down his flushed cheeks, as he contained his excitement for far too long.

Genis let it out in the calmest, most composed, and mature statement he would ever make:

"Yes, that's me. My name is Genis Sage. Sorry I left without telling you, sis… and… it's nice to finally meet you, mom."


End file.
